Warning over premium rate phone scam targeting those in debt
ACTION Fraud have warned of a phone scam that targets those in debt.
The scam uses a fake insolvency service phone number to get victims to pay lots of money for calling a premium number.
An insolvency service provides help for people with debt and other financial issues.
Action Fraud has warned that a group of scammers are posing as a call connection service to trick people into spending money on premium numbers that can charge up to £5 a minute.
The scam appears to be coming from a website based outside of the UK called helplinecall.com.
If you think you’re a victim of the scam you can report it to Action Fraud at 0300 123 2040.
The scam works by ringing your number and telling you that you need to speak to an insolvency service, even though you may not.
The scammers then give you a phoney number which they say is for the government's insolvency service.
Although, anyone caught out in the scam will actually be put through to the official government insolvency service.
The phone number does not belong to the insolvency service and will charge you a lot of money.
How to avoid the insolvency service scam
THIS is the advice given by the insolvency service on how to avoid the scam
- If you’re being asked to call the Insolvency Service but you are not going through a bankruptcy or insolvency matter – be careful as it could be a scam phone call.
- Take a look at the number you’re being asked to call – if it looks like it’s a premium rate number then it might not be legitimate.
- If you’re still unsure about the number, check the official to see if it is one of our numbers.
- You can also check numbers using a standard search engine as if it is a legitimate number you will be taken to an official website
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Premium numbers that can charge up to £5 a minute usually start with the digits 084, 087 or 09.
If you were told to dial one of those numbers or it was found in Google or other search engines and not from an official website, these are unlikely to be genuine numbers.
These kind of scammers often call themselves call connection services and try to connect victims to well-known organisations.
Although there are legal call connections services, but they are regulated by the Phone-paid Standards Authority and will always tell you how much the call they are connecting you to will cost.
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